The neurochemical and metabolic cascade following brain injury: moving from animal models to man.

Experimental traumatic brain injury produces a series of cellular events contributing to a neurochemical and neurometabolic cascade. This cascade is defined by the release of neurotransmitters resulting in a massive ionic flux, which, consequently, produces an increase in glycolysis. This increase in glycolysis is followed by a metabolic diaschisis, which is related to the degree and extent of behavioral deficits. Clinical efforts have now determined that a similar cascade occurs in human head injury, validating the animal model as well as providing new assessment strategies for the management and treatment of brain injury.